


AH Superhero AU 3

by QueenCoeurl



Series: AH Superhero AU [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 00:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13088994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCoeurl/pseuds/QueenCoeurl
Summary: Jon arrives with a warning for Ryan. The crew encounters what seems to be another mind control psychic.





	AH Superhero AU 3

**Author's Note:**

> Commission for Anonani on tumblr to continue the Superhero au

Super Hero AU 3: Commission

 

  “Hello Jon.” Ryan greeted. The room was dark, pitch black. The underground bunker had no windows, no sources of natural light, and with the lights off, the dark was oppressive.

  The weight next to Ryan on the couch shifted, “Hello Ryan.”

  “To what do I owe this lovely visit?” Ryan was no fool, Jon only ever came to him when he needed something. The darkness was a defensive measure; a way to make Ryan’s main ability more difficult to use. Not that he’d risk using it on Jon.

  “We’ve got a problem.” Jon told him.

  “Oh really? Which one?”

  “I’m serious, Ryan.” Jon sighed, “Your little rampage; it’s inspired people.”

  “My little ‘rampage’ wasn’t voluntary. They drugged me.” Ryan explained.

  Jon nodded invisibly, “I figured it wasn’t a normal move on your part, but the reason behind it doesn’t matter. I’ve heard things, things about little ‘Mad Kings’ fighting for what they see as a throne.”

  “Copy cats?”

  Jon shrugged, “I’m not sure if it’s copy catting or paying homage, but I think we’re going to see someone come out on top soon, and they’re going to be doing it in your name.”

  “You think there’s a psychic powerful enough to pull it off?” Ryan had encountered others who claimed mind control, but never had they been a match for him. They’d all dealt in subtle influence, or possession, not the true control he had.

  “Does it matter? They’re going to try, and it will be a disaster.” Jon explained, then decided to make Ryan care, “And if they fuck it up all in your name, what will that do to your reputation?”

  “And what do you want me to do? Are you offering a jail break?” Ryan let him hear his irritation.

  “I got in here just fine, didn’t I? I could get you out. You could reclaim your name and squash anyone trying to take it.”

  Ryan set his jaw in thought. He was making progress here with the Achievement Hunters, would he throw it all away for freedom? What was going to give him greater gain in the future? Where would he be less _bored?_ He’d done the whole crime shadow king thing already, and yes it had been fun, but would it grow old? Should he even care if someone took his Mad King name?

  Ryan’s thoughtful silence did not go unnoticed by Jon, “Don’t tell me you _like_ being trapped with these self-proclaimed heroes?”

  “No. I don’t, but they have their… use.” Ryan stumbled over his words. He was thankful the tower’s surveillance system was video only, “Maybe I want to try something different here.”

  Jon laughed, “Oh my god, they’ve gotten to you, haven’t they? Don’t tell me they’re your friends now?”

  Ryan shook his head, “No, they definitely do not trust me.” Maybe Michael did, but no one else had shown any true friendly intentions towards him, “I just figure this is an interesting challenge to deal with. And honestly, having the Hunters on my side? You can’t say that wouldn’t be advantageous.”

  Jon couldn’t help but agree, “Alright I see your point, but you can’t stay here forever. What happens when another mind control psychic starts wreaking shop? Do they blame you? Do they further restrict your freedom?”

  “I’ll deal with it when it happens.” Ryan told him, “Besides what more proof could they possibly need, that it isn’t me?”

  Jon chuckled, “You’re expecting rationality.”

  “Should I not?”

  He chuckled again, “Well, either way, last call for a jail break.”

  “Not now.” Ryan shook his head, “But I may need one in the future. I don’t plan on living out the rest of my life here.”

  “Stockholm syndrome is one hell of a drug.” Jon joked.

  “Ha. Ha.” Ryan wasn’t amused, “This isn’t that at all.”

  “Isn’t it?” Jon prodded.

  “Look I appreciate you offering me my freedom, but since I don’t want it right now, there isn’t much more reason for you to be here.” Ryan was done talking to him.

  Jon scoffed, “Ever polite, Haywood.”

  The lights flicked back on, revealing Ryan alone on the couch.

  Ryan squinted, and looked around, but knew Jon was gone. His gaze returned to the box of coloured contacts still in his hand.

  Should Jon be correct, maybe Ryan could use some chaos to his advantage.

 

~*~

 

  Ray wrung his hands. He’d been thinking about this for months now, but the whole ‘Mad King’ debacle had finally solidified it.

  He was going to leave the Achievement Hunters.

  He stood outside Geoff’s office in the Tower. The door was closed but he could see Geoff alone inside. He brought a hand up and hesitated. He swallowed.

  He knocked.

  “Come in!” Geoff called out.

  Ray took a deep breath and stepped into the small office.

  Geoff looked up, “Hey, Ray–” he cheerily greeted then noticed the grim expression on his face, “What happened? Has Ryan done something? Is everything alright?”

  Ray shook his head, “No, no, no. This is about me. I–” he closed the door behind himself.

  “Ray, what’s wrong?”

  “I quit.”

  “You what?”

  “Quit.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Geoff was waiting for a punchline that would never come.

  “I’m completely serious, Geoff. I can’t do this anymore. I just want to live a normal life again. Or as normal a life as I can. Just me and Tina and videogames.” Ray explained, “No more near-death injuries, no more super powered bullshit.”

  Geoff let out a long exhale and shook his head, “You’re serious.”

  “Dead serious.”

  “You’re part of our main crew, Ray.”

  “I know, and I know that Kdin left Achievement Hunter just recently too, but I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now. I can’t stay here… It isn’t… me.” Ray did his best to convey his feelings on the matter.

  Geoff frowned.

  “Please,” Ray implored.

  “Ray, I can’t stop you from leaving. As much as I want you to stay, I can’t make you. You’ve made this decision and you’ve clearly put some thought into it. So,” Geoff took a breath and met Ray’s eyes, “When are you going to leave us?”

  Ray swallowed, “H-how soon can I? Do I, like, give you two weeks notice or…?”

  Geoff chuckled sadly, “It’s up to you.” He shook his head, “Say your goodbyes and go, or stay for a bit.”

  Ray didn’t look forward to the goodbyes. He’d much rather avoid them but knew that would only hurt everyone more. It was going to be painful.

  “I guess I better start letting everyone know, and go from there.”

 

~*~

 

  Ray’s farewell party was heartfelt and would have been perfect if not for Ryan awkwardly slinking around to get at the food.

  Ray still saw Ryan as the man who would have killed him had Jeremy not stepped in, and he wasn’t about to let it go. Having him around left a bitter taste in his mouth, and if there was one positive to leaving it would be never seeing him again.

  As for everyone else; it took some serious will power not to tear up. The team would miss him, and he’d miss them. He’d do his best to still occasionally hang out with them, but things would be different now.

  Lindsay broke into tears on behalf of everyone else, “Who will be our X-Ray?! I’m going to miss you!”

  Ray laughed, “You’ll be fine without me, I was always pretty useless anyway.” He shrugged.

  Ryan narrowed his eyes and bit into his forth slice of pizza. Ray had been the only person to ever resist his mind control. That was hardly useless, and it made him glad to be rid of him.

  “You were one of our most important members!” Jack argued, “You were our intel guy; you saw all!”

  “Yeah but it’s not like super strength or anything.” Ray dismissed, “All I did was see shit.”

  “And shoot eye lasers.” Michael pointed out, “That’s fucking awesome.”

  “Yeah, how often will you be able to do that now?” Gavin spoke up, “Unless you go an’ become a villain…”

  Ray smiled, “Yeah, shittiest villain ever!”

  “Better than Ryan.” Geoff jabbed.

  Ryan huffed, grabbed the rest of the pizza, and left the room.

  Ray watched him leave and waited until he was gone, “Honestly, I wish you guys the best of luck with that dude. It like sharing house with a free roaming pit viper.”

  Geoff shuddered, “Less gross.”

  “But more terrifying.” Gavin quietly admitted.

 

~*~

 

  It took a good few weeks for routine to become normal after Ray left, and another couple months before Geoff was ready to announce that the vacancy would be filled.

  No one knew who Geoff would choose. More B-team members had been hired on in the interim, and it looked like Geoff could pick any one of them.

  Even Ryan had started asking who the lucky member would be.

  Geoff wanted to be sure in his decision, so the B-team began to see more and more action on the front lines. Each job was a test. He’d mix members of the main team with some of the B-team and watch to see how they worked with each other. Each combination had its strengths and weakness.

  Matt was reserved, thoughtful, and could create some brilliant illusions. The problem? Illusions were just that, illusions. Should any foe see through them or realise they had limited physical influence, Matt had little in the way of defending himself.

  Caleb? He was their go-to healer, but he’d been distancing himself from them in favour of his own “real” job for a while now. He wasn’t even an option.

  Steffie artfully commanded magnetism. She could manipulate metal objects on a whim, but she had little patience for the personality quirks of the others. She didn’t always tolerate the level of ridiculous some of the team members could get themselves into.

  Trevor was brilliant. A rare technopath who communicated with and controlled technology as easy as breathing. But he was a scientist at heart, and one to attempt to negotiate his way out of a fight rather than actually fight it.

  Alfredo and his sonic voice had serious potential. The issue was, like most sound based powers, the destruction was difficult to aim and could hurt friend and foe alike. He was powerful, but control was an issue.

  Then there was Jeremy. His power was only reliable when paired with someone else. He shared the physical strength of those near him. So when near Jack, that strength was incredible, but alone he was no stronger than a well-muscled man his size could be. He was entirely reliant on others.

 

  Geoff was pulling out his hair trying to come to a decision when his phone rang. There was a bank robbery going on downtown and the cops believed someone with super powers was responsible. He was thankful for the distraction and then realized he had to decide who from the team would respond.

 Jack was a good negotiator, send him in with Michael and…? He drummed his fingers on his desk. Hadn’t he decided that Jeremy was good with the heavy hitters? Screw it; Jeremy it was.

 

~*~

 

  Dressed in their black and green uniforms, Jack, Michael, and Jeremy showed up on the scene of the crime. The police had surrounded the bank and were in a standoff with many hostages stuck inside.

  Shield on his back and hammer at his side, Jack approached the nearest officer, “What kind of powers do we think we’re dealing with?”

  The officer was clearly unsure, “I don’t know! We don’t even know who’s robbing the bank! One of the tellers pulled out a gun and then we had some civilians turn on each other, and now it’s all quiet. No one’s making demands, and they’re all just standing inside looking at each other.”

  “What the fuck?” Michael crossed his arms and looked up at Jack.

  Jeremy shrugged, “Let’s get in there, I guess.”

  Jack nodded and pulled the shield from his back, “Alright. Stick close behind me in case they start shooting.”

  Shield first they carefully made their way over to the front door of the bank and peered in.

  The officer had been right. Everyone inside was standing as if rooted to the spot and no one was pointing a gun at another. It was eerily silent.

  “Hello?” As soon as Jack spoke all eyes turned to him, heads still unmoving.

  “I’m freaking out, this is creepy as fuck.” Jeremy whispered.

  Jack slowly opened the front door, put his shield away, and his hands up in the air, “We’re not here with the police. Whoever is in charge here, we mean no harm.”

  Eyes continued to follow him but no one moved, not so much as a twitch came from anyone.

  “Who is in charge here?” Jack asked.

  The nearest person, a woman, began to make guttural noises. It was as if she was attempting to speak but was unable to open her mouth or lips. Her arms flew up in front of her and she began to clumsily walk forward towards Jack. Her gait was unnatural, robotic, and her eyes filled with fear.

  “M’aam are you alright?” Jack wasn’t blind to her awkward movements. He couldn’t help but back away as she approached him.

  “Jack!” Jeremy shouted out in warning.

  Jack looked away from the woman and saw that all the other civilians and tellers had begun to walk towards them in the same unnatural fashion with arms outstretched.

  The trio moved closer together and entered a defensive position.

  “Do we attack? These look like civilians!” Michael wasn’t sure what to do.

  “It’s like they’ve been zombified.” Jack observed, “But I don’t think they’re dead.”

  “So what do we do?” Jeremy brought his fists up defensively. With Jack and Michael next to him he’d be ready to handle the worst, but didn’t want to hurt anyone innocent.

  Michael’s canines grew long. The bones in his arms shifted and thickened. His skin hardened and long claws sprouted from his fingertips, “Back off!” he warned.

  The warning was not heeded.

  Michael roared and pushed the nearest person. They toppled over like a mannequin, making no attempt to soften their fall.

  “I think you just found their weakness.” Jeremy reached out and pushed another one of the people over.

  “Wait! Stop! Some of these people are older; you push them over and you could seriously hurt them!” Jack warned as a man came right up to him and began to grab and claw at him.

  Seeing the man ineffectually claw at Jack, Jeremy had a thought, “What if this is all a distraction?” he ran out and began to weave between the people, “I’m going to check the safe!” he swore as a young girl almost grabbed his arm.

  “Well hurry up!” Michael shouted after him.

  Bodies began to press on Michael and Jack. Before the weight turned smothering, Jack turned and grabbed Michael into a large and loose hug, using his strength to prevent the crowd from moving closer. Fighting off the clawing hands was then left to Michael who was finding difficultly keeping them away from his and Jack’s faces. One woman with manicured nails was particularity dangerous.

  Both of them ended up losing their glasses to the crowd before Jeremy came running back and bowled into the crowd.

  “Safe’s empty!” He told them as he pushed aside and pulled away people.

  Jack straightened and swept his arms out slowly. He parted the crowd easily and then worked to keep them at bay while the three of them regrouped.

  “Then we’ve lost this fight. Let’s help these people.” Jack ordered.

  “How?!” Michael slapped arms away.

  As if in response to Michael’s question a wave of ease swept over the crowd. Many dropped to the ground but others managed to keep their footing. All their movements turned natural and they were able to speak again.

  “Thank you!”

  “You saved us!”

  “God bless!”

  The chorus of voices was deafening after the earlier silence.

  Jack took control and began to direct everyone out of the bank. It was best they left and got medical attention to see what had happened to them.

 

  Back outside the victims were just as confused as to what had happened as anyone else. The trio took it upon themselves to interview as many of the victims as possible but all their stories were more or less the same.

  One of the tellers had pulled out a gun, climbed on her desk and then fired a shot into the ceiling. Next thing anyone knew the alarm was going off and they were no longer in control of their own bodies. One victim likened it to being a puppet, with their limbs moving of their own will.

  The three of them reconvened.

  “I think it’s a psychic of some sort.” Jack told them after they shared the stories they gathered.

  “Mind control?” Jeremy proposed.

  “Fucking again?!” Michael didn’t even want to consider it.

  “I was under Ryan’s influence and know what it feels like. If it was mind control like his they wouldn’t even think anything weird had happened.” Jack explained.

  “Unless he wanted them to.” Jeremy pointed out, “To cover his tracks.”

  “You don’t think it’s him again?” Michael asked.

  Jeremy shrugged.

  “We need to get back to the Tower and discuss this.” Jack turned and started walking back towards the AH Mobile.

  “But what if it is him?” Michael followed him, “He’ll be there and can mess with us further!”

  “But we can also ask him if he thinks it’s mind control.” Jack retorted.

  “But if it is him, he can tell us whatever he wants.” Jeremy pointed out, “And if he wants us to believe it he can make us and we wouldn’t even know.”

  “You bring that up every time.” Jack said, “We’ve got proof on our cameras that he hasn’t been using mind control on us.”

  “The eye kind! Not his words! And he was able to control people across the city while the serum was in him, wasn’t he? What if there’s residual something still in there, or if he’s gotten his hands on more of it? He has full access to the lab!” Jeremy began piecing what he had together.

  “Oh trust me, he was nuts on the serum. He wouldn’t be able to pull of a coordinated bank robbery like that.” Michael recalled.

  “Still!” Jeremy argued, “What if he’s found a way around our system, or modified the serum, there’s tons of options here! He might have a guy on the outside who can retrieve messages for him.”

  “Kerry’s under surveillance too, and he hasn’t contacted Ryan at all.” Jack informed him.

  “Jack, he was a fucking mind controlling crime lord. I doubt he only had _one_ loyal minion.” Jeremy didn’t know why this required so much explaining.

  They reached the AH Mobile and got in with Jack behind the wheel, Jeremy shotgun, and Michael in the back.

  “While I agree that Kerry was a minion,” Michael began, “I also know what Ryan’s mind control feels like, and it feels like nothing. Why would he have a whole bank go zombie, if he could just influence some criminals to rob the place like it was their own idea.”

  Jeremy opened his mouth to argue further but found he had nothing to disprove that point with.

  “We’ll talk to Ryan and then make our theories, ok?” Jack tried to pacify them both.

  The bank wasn’t too far from the Tower, and they made good time back.

  When they entered, Ryan was in his usual spot stretched out across the couch and playing a videogame someone must have left behind. If you wanted to find Ryan he really only ever was in one of three spots; the couch, his bed, or AH Labs.

  Michael comfortably approached him, “Hey Ryebread.”

  Ryan paused the game and sat up, “Hey. How did that bank job go?”

  “They got the money and got away.” Michael let him know, “But we have some questions for you. About mind control.”

  Jack nodded and sat down across from Ryan, “Know of anyone who can control people but with them acutely aware that they are being controlled?”

  Ryan snorted, “Don’t tell me you’ve got a suspect claiming they were mind controlled into committing the crime.” The authorities we having a hell of a time disproving such claims, and it had turned into a sure way to get a mistrial.

  “No.” Jack shook his head, “We had a bunch of people acting like zombies, unable to control their bodies.”

  “It was like a terrifying flash mob.” Jeremy joined the conversation and sat down next to Jack.

  Michael remained standing, “They said it was like being a puppet.”

  Ryan raised a brow, “Now that is interesting…”

  “What do you think about it?” Jeremy asked.

  “Well the brain does control the body. I just don’t know how you would completely circumvent the conscious mind… Unless…” Ryan fell into thought.

  “Unless?” Jeremy urged for his thoughts.

  “Technically you have a second brain: your spinal cord. If you were to send orders to it directly and not through the brain, while blocking the brain’s ability to talk with the spine, then you would have full control of a body while the person is trapped inside completely aware of what’s going on.” Ryan explained.

  “Is that something you can do?” Jeremy did not like the sound of it.

  Ryan shook his head, “I can make some believe they aren’t in control of their body, but wouldn’t be able to bypass their brain like that.”

  “So what if they just _believed_ they had no control?” Jeremy softly accused.

  Ryan looked to see if Jeremy was serious in his accusation, seeing he was, he laughed, “You seriously think I could do something like that from here?”

  “No, we don’t. But you’re our expert here.” Jack gave Jeremy a glare.

  “If it helps; they weren’t moving very naturally.” Michael remembered the detail.

  “Bypassing the motor cortex could do that, I guess? Making all movement a conscious movement of each muscle instead of a subconscious thing? I can only hypothesise here. I’d have to witness it myself to know more, and seeing as I’m still stuck here, it ain’t an option.” Ryan stretched back out on the couch, “Have fun countering that, by the way.”

  “Ass.” Michael muttered.

  Ryan clicked his tongue, giving Michael a smile and thumbs up.  

  “Thanks for the help, your mad-jesty.” Jeremy was sarcastic.

  Ryan frowned at him, “Stop calling me that.”

  “I’m gonna go talk to Geoff. You guys can go and get out of your suits.” Jack stood and left.

  Jeremy stood too and looked back down at Ryan who had started up his game again, “Don’t you have work or something to do?”

  “Nah.” Ryan replied.

  Lindsay walked into the room and had overheard the last bit of conversation, “Matt and Trevor are trying to reformulate the suppression serum and don’t want him around for it.”

  “Hey Linds,” Jeremy waved.

  “Hey,” She nodded back at him.

  Jack pat Lindsay on the shoulder and left to find Geoff.

  “Makes little sense if you ask me. Not as if the serum is going to just jump into Ryan’s veins.” Lindsay continued.

  “They think that even the fumes might have an effect.” Ryan told her, “Whatever; I’m happy putting as much space between me and it as I can.”

  “You really hate that shit don’t you?” Michael asked Ryan as he hugged Lindsay in greeting.

  “Yeah, I do. Mind control needs _control_. It’s right there in the name.” Ryan answered.

  “Don’t need your dark side revealed to the world, more like.” Lindsay commented.

  Ryan chuckled, “I’ll admit, it was embarrassing.” He shifted position, “But I’d bet good money any one of you would have caused similar if not worse chaos in my situation. People got hurt, but no one died.”

  “Yeah, but we also wouldn’t have been able to control thousands of people.” Jeremy pointed out.

  “So? That’s just my power. You guys can be far more dangerous.” Ryan argued, “Michel could easily maul someone, Lindsay can have someone mauled, and you… well maybe not you, but you get my point.”

  Jeremy puffed up, “I can be dangerous!”

  Ryan looked at him skeptically.

  Michael laughed, “Yeah, he can beat anyone at arm wrestling, even Jack!”

  “Hey. I’ll always be stronger than whoever I face!” Jeremy declared.

  “Unless they bring a gun to the fist fight.” Ryan saw how much this bothered Jeremy and decided to poke him further, “Or any powers at all.”

  “Bring it, Mad King! I’ll beat your ass any day of the week!” Jeremy brought up a fist.

  “Yeah?” Ryan yawned, “Well if I’m allowed to use my powers at all, you’re fucked, so don’t even start.”

  It was Jeremy’s turn to laugh, “If you don’t think I’d fight you both blind and deaf, you seriously underestimate me.”

  Michael nodded and looked to Ryan, “Oh yeah, he totally would.”

  Raising a brow, Ryan looked to Jeremy.

  “Time and place, Haywood.” Jeremy said.

  Ryan turned back to his game, “Nah. I’m good.”

  Jeremy laughed, “Figured.”

  Ryan’s face was unreadable as he continued the game.

  As Michael, Lindsay, and Jeremy left the room, Trevor came in.

  Ryan paused the game again and rolled his eyes, “What now?”

  Trevor fidgeted with his hands and hesitated.

  Ryan stared him down until he spoke.

  “Ok. So. I have an idea. Gonna call it Project X.” Trevor told him, “But I’d need you for it. You in?”

  Sighing, Ryan stated, “Gonna need more info than that.”

  Trevor hurried over to him and leaned in. He whispered his plan to Ryan.

  Ryan’s eyes widened, and something excited flared to life inside them, “Does Geoff know about this?”

  “He would never agree to it. But I know he can use it.” Trevor answered, “Besides, with the two of us? We’d be unstoppable.”

  Ryan was still hesitant, “You know that if this goes wrong it’ll be my ass on the line and not yours.”

  “That’s why I need you to cooperate and not take advantage of whatever happens. It’s a win-win. Think about it. You’ll eventually be free of us if you play good. Why not get more out of it?”

  Ryan’s lip curled into a smirk, “I like you.” The kid knew exactly how to convince him.

  Trevor ginned wide, “Why thank you! So you in?”

  “I’m in.” Ryan’s smirk grew into a crooked smile. His plans were working out just fine.

 

~*~

 

  Geoff crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

  Jack looked at him pleadingly.

  “I don’t like this.” Geoff told him for the forth or fifth time, “Another mind control fucker!” he threw up his hands, “How many can there possibly be?”

  “So you think Ryan’s behind it as well, then?” Jack asked.

  Geoff ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled, “No, but… I mean we can’t be sure he isn’t.” he shook his head and grunted in frustration, “But I also think he’s smarter than this. If he has a play, it’s a long one.”

  “Glad you think so too. I know he’s up to something, but this isn’t it.” Jack said, “But then we have the issue of a whole new mind control psychic made bold by Ryan’s rampage.”

  “Clearly not a good one either, by the sounds of it.”

  “Good enough, Geoff. They controlled a whole bank’s worth of people. The movements may have been sloppy, but it was effective.”

  “Do you think Ryan could be useful here in countering them?” Geoff raised a brow, “If we let him in on our ops we better be fucking sure of it.”

  Jack let out a long breath, “I don’t know, Geoff. If you’re looking for my opinion? I don’t trust him; he’s too smart, but at the same time, because of that you can trust him not to be a complete idiot.”

  “Not helping.”

  Jack shrugged, “Sorry.”

  “We’re just gonna have to see where this goes then.” Geoff clapped his hands together with finality, “Get some rest, and we’ll just have to wait and see where this goes.”

  Jack nodded and turned to leave.

  “Oh and Jack,” Geoff quickly asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “How do you feel about Jeremy?”

 

~*~

  There were four more bank robberies that month. All of them with the same M.O. Unable to harm civilians or pinpoint the culprit the Hunters were slowly losing their minds as to what to do.

  Geoff was pulling out his hair and Ryan was enjoying every last second of it.

 

  They all gathered in the common room for a meeting. They needed to brainstorm what they could possibly do. Seated on the couches with the tv playing a news channel in the background, they all exchanged stares. Ryan was in the same room but off to the side enjoying his lunch of tacos graciously brought in by Steffie.

 

  “It’s like a plague of the worst fucking flash mobs ever.” Alfredo broke the silence.

  “I said the same thing!” Jeremy agreed.

  Geoff scratched his beard, “It’s definitely a plague, and we need to stop it. Any ideas?”

  The room fell silent again.

  After a few moments, Geoff spoke again, “Really? Nothing?”

  Ryan put down a half-eaten taco and rubbed the crumbs from his hands, “You need to flush them out.”

  “Thanks, tips.” Michael sarcastically replied.

  Ryan wasn’t deterred, “What do we know? They’re a psychic, they like money, and have no qualms about stealing it. They don’t mind using other people for their own gain, and – while it’s not much of an accomplishment – they’re bright enough to outsmart you.”

  Jack frowned, “It you have a point, Ryan, make it.”

  “Give them an opportunity they would be a fool to miss.” Ryan suggested.

  “A set up…” Trevor nodded.

  “We make it obvious that something valuable is in town and hope they go for it?” Lindsay thought out loud.

  “Or,” Ryan smiled, “Give them a person they’d love to meet. Their inspiration.”

  Geoff stood and stared Ryan down, “No. Not you.”

  “How do we even know that they’d want you?” Matt asked.

  “Why wouldn’t someone with mind control want to meet another of their kind?” Trevor offered, “Us technopaths actively seek each other out. It’s like finding family. Plus, Ryan’s like the biggest name in mind control.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Geoff looked to Trevor, “We can’t let him out even if we wanted to.”

  “Never said you have to let me out.” Ryan clarified, “Just let them _in._ ”

  Geoff was ready to protest but stopped himself when he gave it some more thought, “Now that might be an idea.” He sat back down, “Have them come to us…”

  “But that would require giving out the exact location of the Tower. Something that we’ve never done before. Everyone here would have to be ok with that becoming public knowledge.” Jack warned.

  “What if we give them another address? A fake? Make them think Ryan will be there.” Jeremy suggested.

  “How would we make it look real?” Gavin asked, “We can’t just fake our headquarters… not without actually moving all of our stuff there.”

  “We don’t need to make our address public knowledge.” Michael pointed out, “Just make sure that they learn it.”

  “How?” Jeremy asked him.

  Michael shrugged, “Have one of us get controlled or taken hostage. Make it look like we messed up and then ensure we crack when questioned. Make it convincing.”

  Geoff nodded along and plotted it out. The best part was that Ryan wouldn’t actually have to be involved at all.

  “Let’s do it.” He agreed.


End file.
